Getting ISO 9001 certified is more than just adding another certificate to your wall. It can transform how your business operates and grows. Let’s look at the real benefits certification brings and why it matters for your organisation.
- Better managed business goals, objectives and targets
ISO 9000 is NOT an end in itself.
ISO 9000 is a tool to support the business aims, ambitions, objectives and targets. You never want the ISO tail wagging the business dog.
As a result, we would suggest starting with the business aims and objectives and then ensuring the business processes are fully aligned to meeting those aims and objectives. All quality (or health and safety, or environment or information security) objectives absolutely need to be sub-servient to the commercial aspirations for the business.
2. More effective and efficient operations
Having defined the business goals ISO 9001 certification makes you take a real close look at how your business runs and how your processes deliver value to your clients. Key questions to ask are:
- what works well and
- what doesn’t?
As a result, many organisations discover they can remove unnecessary steps from their processes whilst improving the quality of their offering. This often leads to significant time savings – some businesses report completing their work 25-35% faster following the streamlining their operations, especially true if the ISO programme is combined with other tools like “lean” and “process performance charting”.
For example, one manufacturing company found seven unnecessary approval steps in their product development process. Removing these steps helped them get products to market 40% faster. Service businesses also often find they can serve more customers, more consistently whilst improving the quality of service as they standardise their operational processes.
3. Access to new markets
Many blue-chip companies and public sector organisations demand registration to ISO standards. You won’t get on their tender lists without registration.
This means, if you are quoting for projects in the order of £50k to £100k or more you are likely to get payback for your ISO endeavours by simply winning just one or two new projects. Projects or contracts that would otherwise be inaccessible to you. That’s a great payback!
So, ISO 9001 certification also opens new doors to new business relationships.
4. Better Risk (and opportunity) Management
A key component of any ISO standard is the need to identify risks and opportunities, both of which can occur on a number of levels:
- strategic risk
- operational risk
- financial risk
Strategic risk should be accounted for as part of the business plan, objectives and targets, and the associated (what the standard calls) “context” risks and opportunities. These are things happening in the outside world that might help or hinder your march to meeting your objectives.
The operational risks are dealt with as part of the activities undertaken to streamline your delivery processes.
And, oddly, financial risk sits outside of ISO’s direct remit… but can always be included should you wish it to be. We think it’s a good idea (but not a direct ISO requirement).
So, ISO 9001 helps you identify potential risks early and address them before they turn into bigger problems. The proactive approach to risk management helps keep everything running smoothly and helps prevent costly mistakes that could disrupt your business.
For example, a company may identify a weak link in its supply chain or quality control process and address it before it leads to problems, complaints, delays or defects. By staying ahead of problems, you can maintain a steady flow of operations and prevent costly setbacks.
5. Better Customer Experience and Loyalty
When you implement ISO 9001, you’ll notice immediate improvements in how you consider and address customer needs and expectations. The system helps you track and respond to customer feedback more effectively. Many businesses see customer complaints drop by 25% in their first year after certification. You’ll also find it easier to keep customers coming back – most certified companies report higher customer retention rates because they’re delivering more consistent products and services.
The ISO process also guides you into setting up better ways to communicate with customers. For example, you can create systems that automatically follow up on customer concerns, leading to faster resolution times. When customers see you taking their feedback seriously and making improvements based on what they say, they’re more likely to stick with your business.
6. More Engaged Employees
When employees understand exactly what’s expected of them, they tend to be more engaged in their work. ISO 9001 helps create clear procedures that make training new staff easier and helps existing employees work more effectively. Companies often find their employees are more satisfied at work because they have both the tools and the understanding they need to do their jobs well.
The certification also encourages employees to suggest improvements to how things are done. When staff see their ideas being taken seriously and implemented, they become more invested in the company’s success.
7. Increased Operational Consistency
With ISO 9001, you ensure that your business runs consistently, even as it grows or changes. By creating clear, documented procedures, businesses can maintain quality standards no matter who is working or where the work is being done. This consistency is especially helpful when you open new locations or hire new staff.
Documenting procedures also makes training easier and faster. New employees can follow well-established guidelines, reducing the time needed to get them up to speed and ensuring they meet the same high standards as everyone else. This makes your operations significantly more reliable and much less prone to error.
8. Better (Evidence-Based) monitoring and measurement
Good business practise, and therefore understandably certification, requires companies to track and measure key process performance, giving leaders concrete information that helps to guide their decisions. However, it often surprises us as to how ineffective this sometimes is. ISO 9000 encourages you to make smarter, better informed choices about everything from resource allocation to process improvements.
For example, by tracking objectives, targets, key performance indicators, customer complaints and production or service problems and issues, you can identify patterns and take action before problems get worse.
With solid data to back up decisions, you can be more confident in your choices and avoid mistakes that could cost your company in the long run.
9. Improved Supplier Relationships
ISO 9001 also helps to improve the way you manage your relationships with your suppliers. By setting up systems for evaluating and monitoring suppliers, you can ensure you are consistently getting high-quality materials and services. This structured approach helps strengthen the supply chain and reduces the risk of issues related to poor-quality products and services.
Having well-managed supplier relationships can also lead to better pricing, faster delivery, and more reliable performance. Suppliers are more likely to work closely with companies that have established themselves as trustworthy and committed to quality, making it easier to build long-lasting partnerships.
10. Improved profits
While getting ISO 9001 certification involves an initial investment, the long-term savings are often significant. By streamlining processes, reducing waste, and cutting errors, businesses can lower their overall costs and boost profits. For example, by focusing on quality companies can eliminate time consuming problems and errors, reduce the need for rework, warranty claims, and returns, all of which can be expensive and time-consuming.
In addition, the efficiency gains from standardising processes help eliminate unnecessary steps, saving both time and money. These savings can add up over time, allowing businesses to reinvest in improvements or other growth opportunities, leading to long-term financial benefits.
11. Nurturing a Continuous Improvement Culture
Perhaps the biggest benefit of any ISO initiative is the ongoing focus on the elusive goal of continual improvement.
The underlying theme of any ISO standards is something called the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) process, which is a process for learning and outlined in more detail in many of our blogs.
Best practice, and the ISO certification process, requires regular reviews of your system asking questions like:
- Have we met our objectives?
- What have we learned?
- What could we do better?
- Where do we need to adjust and improve?
These questions would be asked as part of audits and other processes focused on improvement to ensure that the business continues to run smoothly. This underpins a culture of continuous improvement where everyone in the organisation is always looking for ways to get better.
This mindset helps businesses stay competitive and adapt to changes in the market. With ISO 9001, you’re not just maintaining the status quo—you’re always working to set and adjust objectives targets and goals and in doing so improve effectiveness, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. This helps you stay ahead of the curve and maintain high standards particularly as your business evolves.
Beyond these primary benefits, ISO 9001 certification often catalyses other positive changes within organisations. The structured approach to documentation and process control required by the standard frequently leads to improved knowledge management and better preservation of institutional knowledge. Additionally, certified organisations often find it easier to integrate other management systems, such as health and safety (ISO 45001), environmental (ISO 14001) or information security (ISO 27001) standards.
Maintaining ISO 9001 certification requires ongoing commitment and resources, but the rewards make it a worthwhile investment for organisations serious about real and quantifiable improvement. The systematic approach to quality management helps businesses build stronger foundations for sustainable growth while demonstrating their commitment to excellence to stakeholders at all levels.
Get ISO 9001 Certified with Statius
Are you ready to set goals, objectives and targets and align your business processes so that you enhance customer satisfaction and drive cash to the bottom line? Statius can help you achieve ISO 9001 certification with ease. Our team will guide you through every step, ensuring a smooth process.
Contact us today to get started and take the first step towards a more efficient and more profitable business.
